Plugin not found

[MikeSSSS]

I have a perhaps 'classic' problem with having trouble getting a .mll file running on another persons machine using the same version of Maya 2020.

I want them to be able to use just the .mll file. I'm assuming I would need to also package up other .dll dependencies needed in the same folder, but am I missing anything else? (There are no .mel scripts otherwise used, it's just a pure C++ plugin).

Is it a absolute or relative path issue in my linker settings? Any suggestions would be helpful!

 

[mspeer]

Hi!

"...using the same version of Maya 2020."

- Based on the screenshot you are using Maya 2018. A plug-in version for Maya 2020 will not work with Maya 2018.

[MikeSSSS]

Ah noted! I tried on both 2018 and 2020.

Same message appears about the plugin not being found.

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

i recommend to check the following article which covers the most common causes (of course you have to adapt it to your plug-in, but incorrect paths, missing environment variables, PATH variables or dll files can cause this):

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Error-The...

[MikeSSSS · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your help.

The solution I found was that my PATH variable needed to know where the plugin was.

Here's how I debugged it so others can learn:

1. I ran dependency walker (a windows program) on my .mll file to see what .dll's it needed.

2. I then made sure a few of the .dll's (including standard ones like foundation.dll, openmayaui.dll, etc.) were in the same directory. Dependency walker displays a little yellow box or otherwise some warning if they are missing. 

3. I then eventually found that Maya 2020 looks on the PATH variable for various .dll files that your plugin might need. So I edited PATH to include where my .mll plugin was.

There are probably other paths that need to be set like MAYA_PATH or something similar, and I would probably be able to set those through an installer with my plugin, but the above should otherwise work.